“God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life".
John 3:16

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Jesus Promises the Spirit

Jesus Comforts His Followers

John 14

1Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me.2There are many rooms in my Father’s house; I would not tell you this if it werenot true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3After I go and prepare aplace for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may bewhere I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going.”

5Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. So howcan we know the way?”

6Jesus answered, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way tothe Father is through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father,too. But now you do know him, and you have seen him.”

8Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”

9Jesus answered, “I have been with you a long time now. Do you still notknow me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. So why do you say,‘Show us the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Fatheris in me? The words I say to you don’t come from me, but the Father lives in meand does his own work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and theFather is in me. Or believe because of the miracles I have done. 12I tell you thetruth, whoever believes in me will do the same things that I do. Those whobelieve will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.13And if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it for you so that the Father’sglory will be shown through the Son. 14If you ask me for anything in my name, Iwill do it.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

15“If you love me, you will obey my commands. 16I will ask the Father, andhe will give you another Helper to be with you forever—17the Spirit of truth.The world cannot accept him, because it does not see him or know him. But youknow him, because he lives with you and he will be in you.

18“I will not leave you all alone like orphans; I will come back to you. 19In alittle while the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because Ilive, you will live, too. 20On that day you will know that I am in my Father, andthat you are in me and I am in you. 21Those who know my commands and obeythem are the ones who love me, and my Father will love those who love me. Iwill love them and will show myself to them.”

22Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you plan to showyourself to us and not to the rest of the world?”

23Jesus answered, “If people love me, they will obey my teaching. My Fatherwill love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24Thosewho do not love me do not obey my teaching. This teaching that you hear is notreally mine; it is from my Father, who sent me.

25“I have told you all these things while I am with you. 26But the Helper willteach you everything and will cause you to remember all that I told you. ThisHelper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name.

27“I leave you peace; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the worlddoes. So don’t let your hearts be troubled or afraid. 28You heard me say to you, ‘Iam going, but I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you should be happythat I am going back to the Father, because he is greater than I am. 29I have toldyou this now, before it happens, so that when it happens, you will believe. 30I willnot talk with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He hasno power over me, 31but the world must know that I love the Father, so I doexactly what the Father told me to do.

“Come now, let us go.

The Holy Bible, New Century Version

SITUATION

Jesus knew that the disciples were troubled at the thought of his departure. He reassured them by teaching about the Holy Spirit, who would help them.

OBSERVATION

Death did not need to be a terror to the disciples because Jesus was preparing a place for them.

INSPIRATION

What do we do with these worries? Take your anxieties to the cross literally. Next time you're worried about your health or house or finances or flights, take a mental trip up the hill. Spend a few moments looking again at the pieces of passion.

Run your thumb over the tip of the spear. Balance a spike in the palm of your hand. Read the wooden sign written in your own language. And as you do, touch the velvet dirt, moist with the blood of God.

Blood he bled for you. The spear he took for you. The nails he felt for you. The sign he left for you. He did all of this for you.

Knowing this, knowing all he did for you there, don't you think he'll look out for you here?

Or as Paul wrote, "He did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all. So with jesus, God will surely give us all things" (Romans 8:32).

Do yourself a favor; take your anxious moments to the cross. Leave them there with your bad moments, your mad moments, and your anxious moments. And may I suggest one more? Your final moment.

Barring the return of Christ first, you and I will have one. A final moment. A final breath. A final widening of the eyes and beating of the heart. In a split second you'll leave what you know and enter what you don't,

That's what bothers us.

Death is the great unknown. We're always a bit skittish about the unknown.

Sara certainly was. Denalyn and I thought it was a great idea. We would kidnap the girls from school and take them on a weekend trip. We made reservations at a hotel and cleared the trip with their teachers but kept it a secret from our girls. When we showed up at Sara's fourth grade classroom on Friday afternoon, we thought she'd be thrilled. She wasn't. She was afraid. She didn't want to leave!

As we left, I assured her nothing was wrong. We had come to take her to a fun place. Didn't work. By the time we got to the car, she was crying. She was confused. She didn't like the interruption.

Nor do we. God promises to come at an unexpected hour and take us from the gray world we know to a golden world we don't. But since we don't, we aren't sure we want to go. We even get upset at the thought of his coming.

For that reason God wants us to do what Sara finally did-trust her father. "Don't let your hearts be troubled," he urged. "I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am" (John 14:1, 3).

By the way, in a short time Sara relaxed and enjoyed the trip. In fact, she didn't want to come back. You won't want to either.

Troubled about your final moments? Leave them at the foot of the cross.

Leave them there with your bad moments, mad moments, and anxious moments.

About this time someone is thinking, "You know, Max, if I leave all those moments at the cross, I won't have any moments left but good ones."

Well, what do you know? I guess you won't. (From He Chose the Nails by Max Lucado)

APPLICATION

Make a list of everything you're worrying about-health, finances, family, job, and so on. Ask God to help you see all of them in light of eternity. Thank him that he's looking out for you.

Welcome to my Blog

ABCs of Salvation

A. Admit you are a sinner. "There is no one righteous, not even one ... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:10,23. (See Romans 5:8; 6:23.)

Ask God's forgiveness. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13

B. Believe in Jesus (put your trust in Him) as your only hope of salvation. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (See John 14:6.)

Become a child of God by receiving Christ."To all who receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12 (See Revelation 3:20.)

C. Confess that Jesus is your Lord."If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9 (See verse 10.)

Parables of Jesus

A Parable is…

An earthly story with a heavenly purpose, a story or illustration set in everyday life that illustrates a profound moral or spiritual truth. Many of the parables were told in order to make truth clearer, but there were times when Jesus used them for the exact opposite reason – to mask the truth from the spiritual prideful.